The law office of Michael Rooney on the North East corner of Olympia
Avenue and Wood Street
is the site of Punta Gorda's newest mural.Depicted are cattle driven West on Marion Avenue
at Cross Street. Below is Mike's drawing.

On February 6, 2007, Mike and his proposal are
exhibited at the Arts and Humanities Council of Charlotte County.
This
painting is 18 inches by 40 inches. The completed mural will be
18 feet by 40 feet.

Mike sent these pictures March 1. Here is his
message:

Finally, the scaffolding
went up and work has begun on smoothing the stucco finish on the wall at
the Northeast corner of Olympia and Wood streets. Once they have
finished the wall it must set for a week and cure. I will prime and
double finish coat the wall and then I
can begin the mural. Looks like it still will be around the middle
of the month before I actually can start putting art on the wall. But at
least it's happening. Thanks all, Mike

Three days later I cruised by, finding the stucco
complete and the scaffolding gone. Guess it belonged to the stucco
company.

Here is Mike beginning the layout on new scaffolding.

And, filling it in.

March 29 and the filling in continues. The first
picture below shows Mike's sketch of the mural gridlines.
You can see the guides drawn on the building as he paints the base colors.

The following Tuesday, Gordon Bower is on hand
gathering information for an article in the Punta Gorda Herald.
Click the last image for the Herald, April 11, front page.

Painting in the Clouds; work continues as it will for
several more weeks.

The mural on the afternoon of April 19

The next morning, Mike is painting the hound

On April 23, concentration is on the cowboys.

His head in the clouds, Mike works to finish the
higher portion of the mural so scaffolding can be removed in a week or so.

May 17, with love bug season in swing, Mike declares
they are no problem; they help the paint stick.

Mike sends these pictures on May 25th, with a message:Tomorrow morning the scaffolding is coming down. By the end of
today I will have everything finished down to the two lead cattle in the
foreground. The rest I will finish from the ground. The mural
should be complete by the end of next week. Whew! I'm ready for
it to be over. It's been quite a workout. Thanks for your
interest in the project. See ya soon, Mike

On May 26 the scaffolding comes down. The clouds
are finished and the final brush strokes can be made on the lower portions
of the mural.

Rain didn't hold him back as Mike put finishing
touches, including signature on the painting. Judy did the
camera-work.

On hold for the dedication, here is the final result.

The official ribbon cutting is on June 21.
Project complete. Congratulations Mike!